Guess Life Goes On
by Marymel
Summary: Another of my "Jackson" stories. Jim meets Greg and Jackson at a diner, and they see an old friend joing Jim for dinner.


**I don't own CSI, but Jackson is my original character.**

**I got to thinking about how I always liked the friendship between Greg and Sofia Curtis, and I wondered what might happen if Sofia met Greg's son. So here's the story I came up with.**

**Also, if this ties in to my "Coffee Break" stories with Brass and Curtis, so be it :)! I haven't given up on my "Coffee Break" stories yet...hopefully I'll have a new one as soon as season 13 starts.**

**Anyway, here's the little story I came up with. Please read and review!**

Three months ago, if Greg Sanders had a Saturday off, he would have spent it catching up on some sleep or maybe catching a concert somewhere. Now, since he had his three-and-a-half year old son, Jackson, he didn't mind losing any sleep at all. He and Jackson had spent the morning just lounging around the apartment watching cartoons and just relaxing together. They'd been to the park where Jackson loved playing on the swings and look for bugs. Greg had even taken Jackson to see his first movie, and the little boy happily talked to his dad about the cartoon he'd just seen on the big screen. Now Greg and Jackson were at a local diner, where they'd eaten dinner and Jackson was ready to enjoy an ice cream sundae.

"You going to be able to finish that?" Greg asked with a smile.

"Mm-hmm!" Jackson said with a wide smile as he picked up his spoon.

Greg smiled as his son began to eat his ice cream and quickly got chocolate sauce all over his mouth. "Can I help you with that, Jacks?"

"Here, daddy," Jackson said as he handed Greg a spoon.

"Thank you," Greg said as he helped his son eat his sundae.

The two were laughing and enjoying the sundae when Detective Jim Brass approached their table. He smiled when he saw Jackson with more chocolate on his mouth than there seemed to be in the sundae. "Did you save any for me?" he asked the happy boy.

"Hey, Brass!" Greg said.

Jackson smiled at his Uncle Jim. "I got ice cream!"

Jim laughed. "I can see that, Jackson."

Greg laughed and smiled at his son. "You getting dinner?" he asked the detective.

Jim smiled and shook his head. "Nah, I'm meeting a friend of mine here for dinner."

Greg smiled, and saw his son seemed to have more of the sundae on him than he ate. "Jacks, let's wipe your face." He reached over to wipe Jackson's face with a napkin he'd wet with water.

"Unca Jim? I saw a movie!" Jackson happily told Jim as Greg tried to wipe his face.

"You did? Did you like it?"

"Uh-huh. We got to eat popcorn!"

"He loved the movie," Greg added. "Actually got him to sit still for a little while."

"And it was cool!" Jackson happily told him.

Jim laughed at the little boy. "Well, I'll have to check that out then, huh?" Jackson smiled and nodded.

Greg was getting his wallet out to pay the check when he glanced toward the door and saw his former colleague, Deputy Sheriff Sofia Curtis walk into the diner. She saw Jim and walked over to him, smiling.

"Hi, Jim." Sofia looked and saw Greg sitting at the table talking to Brass. "Greg! I haven't seen you in a while." She patted his shoulder. "How are you?"

"Good. We've had a great day." Noting Sofia's confused expression, he gestured to the little boy watching her shyly.

"Jim mentioned you have a little boy," Sofia said as she smiled at Jackson.

"Jacks, this is Sofia. She's a friend of your uncle Jim's and mine. Sofia, this is my son, Jackson."

"Hi," Jackson said quietly.

"Hi, sweetie. Your Uncle Jim has told me that you and your daddy are a pretty cool family."

Jackson smiled and nodded, then got up and clambered onto his father's lap.

Greg smiled as his son laid his head on his shoulder. "Yeah, he's been with me for a few months now...and I don't know how I lived without him." He kissed Jackson's cheek, causing the toddler to giggle.

Jim and Sofia watched them and both softly smiled. "He's adorable, Greg." Sofia said. "Really, congratulations."

"Thank you," Greg said as he stood up. He set Jackson on the floor and got his money out to pay the check.

"Jim said you have full custody?" Sofia asked as Jackson took his toy car he'd been playing with and ran it across the table.

"Yeah, his mother worked with the team about four years ago," Jim clarified as Greg set money on the table for the tip.

"And I have full custody," Greg added. He smiled as his son ran his toy car across the table and said 'vroom' as he pushed it along. "Well, I gotta get this and get him home. He's had a pretty full day."

Jackson clambered up onto the chair, then put his arms around Jim's neck for a hug. "Aw! Thank you!" The detective told the sweet little boy.

Sofia glanced at Greg. "Jim told me about his mother killing the UC officer in Chicago. How she ran here and..." she glanced at the happy boy chatting with Jim. "...that's when she told you about him."

Greg nodded. "Yeah, and he's been with me ever since." Jackson jumped off the chair and walked over to Greg. Lifting his son into his arms, Greg added, "He's amazing."

Sofia smiled. "Yeah. Congratulations."

Jackson laid his head on Greg's shoulder. "Well, I gotta get him home," Greg said. "But will we see you around?"

"Sure," Sofia said with a soft smile. As she looked at Jackson, she said, "I'm glad I got to see you, Jackson. You're adorable."

Jackson softly laughed. "Thank you."

"You're welcome."

"I'll see you later Jackson," Jim said as they were leaving. Jackson smiled and waved at the detective.

"Come on, Jacks," Greg said as he began to walk to the counter. He turned and smiled at the detectives. "Enjoy your date."

Jim cleared his throat and Sofia playfully glared at her former colleague. Turning to Jim, she said, "Jackson's adorable."

Jim smiled, and the two made their way to their table.

"Yeah," Jim agreed. "I sometimes work a case with Sanders and just...I don't know, wonder when he grew up."

Sofia smiled at her good friend. "Guess life goes on."

"Yeah," Jim softly agreed as they sat down. "Life goes on."

**The End.**


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